“This was the best Convergence yet,” said Don Scott, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Education. “This has been something very special,” said Cathy Brothers from Capacity Canada, and a member of the Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo steering committee. “I loved the breakout workshops,” said Michele Taylor from the Fort McMurray Family Crisis Society. Credit for+ Read More

I was at The Gathering, a converging of nonprofit minds from across Canada hosted by Suncor in Calgary back in October, when I first met Michael Green. Cathy Glover of the Suncor Energy Foundation had suggested we needed to bump into one another as he had been doing some incredible work with Aboriginal elders in+ Read More

I was at Fames and More yesterday needing to get some framing done on a recent painting. Jessica Weber, one of the wonderful employees at the establishment, shared the news with me that someone had opened up an art supply store out of their home. “What?” I cried. “Are you serious?” My face lit up+ Read More

We have almost arrived at the third edition of ConvergenceYMM, a gathering of the nonprofit/social profit sector in Wood Buffalo. A collaboratively organized event, Convergence has evolved and changed over its young life. The inaugural event really attempted to address both the real and expected changes that were occurring in the community at the time,+ Read More

At the Premier’s Council on Culture we talk a lot about the Alberta story and how it gets disseminated within the province and around the world. Our story is told by artisans in multiple ways: theatre, dance, spoken word, writings, paintings, drawings, carvings, pottery, crafts, music, and myriad methods of expression. Some absolutely marvellous stories+ Read More

We don’t get to the Full Moon Cafe often enough. Life often gets in the way, other commitments, or an overarching need to stay home. Last night, Dylan wanted to go; so we did. The Full Moon Cafe is a grassroots monthly sharing of talents that has been happening for the better part of a+ Read More

Jay Barnard, aka Chef Recovery, Jay Corey, ex-felon, ex-drug dealer and user, is preparing for the talk of his life, at TEDxFortMcMurray on February 21st. I’m his coach. What does that mean? Simply put, I sit back and listen to him tell the story of how he went from drunk at the age of 12+ Read More

I love Jazz. If you were to invade my iTunes collection and multiple shelves of CDs down in the basement, you would discover a predominance of the genre that emerged in the late 19th Century and continues to explore uncharted musical territory over a hundred years later. Jazz has held a place in the hearts+ Read More

There is nothing worse for my weight loss journey than traveling. Nothing. And to be honest, it’s not because I veer too far off the path, it’s more that my body patterns get discombobulated. I flew down to Edmonton on Tuesday, then rented a car and drove to Red Deer, for a full day of+ Read More

Chirp. (minutes pass) Chirp. (more minutes pass) Chirp. “What the hell?” I say in frustration, terribly annoyed by the persistent electronic sound that pierces the silence and disturbs our sleep. It seems to happen only when the furnace is not running, and originates somewhere near the laundry room. Each, in our turn, run down to+ Read More